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05.06.2005

ACHA D2 West All-Region Honors

By A. Sheldon

The American Collegiate Hockey Association announced its All-American and All-Region selections this week and three members of the San Jose State Hockey team have been recognized for their outstanding performances during the 2004-05 campaign.

SJSU head coach Ron Glasow was named the ACHA Division-II West Region Coach of the Year.
Glasow said the honor doesn't reflect his work behind the bench as much as it represents the entire team's effort in producing an overall 23-6-2 record and No. 13 standing in the nation.
"Everything went really well for us this year and we won some really close games against USC, the University of Colorado, BYU and the postseason Penn State game - all won in overtime or with a minute left," Glasow said. "When you win games you don't think you're suppose to win it really changes the whole complexion of the season."

Spartan goaltender Ryan Lowe came through in the clutch on many occasions, which earned the 21-year old All-Region 1st-team honors after logging 1,152 minutes between the pipes to produce a 12-6-1 record and a .886 save-percentage.

Lowe said he was shocked about the news of his selection.

"It was a pleasant surprise," Lowe said. "Though I was more happy that Ron had ‘Coach of the Year.' He's had that coming for 15 years."

Glasow said Lowe came up big during his second run with the Spartans.
"He's more experienced and confident," Glasow said. "He was put in more challenging positions and responded."

Late in the season, Lowe was put in net for a pivotal match-up against Utah State University.
To secure a postseason berth the Spartans needed a convincing win against the No. 3 Aggies – and Lowe delivered with a perfect performance in the paint.

"I told him if he let in one goal he was going to be pulled and he shut them out," Glasow said. "I'm going to have to say that to him all the time."

After an injury side-lined goalie alternate Joe Best at the end of the regular season, Lowe stepped in to man the crease for all three National Tournament dates in Detroit, Michigan – backstopping the team to its final victory, a 5-4 OT upset against a strong Penn State University squad.

The sophomore netminder blocked 49 shots that night to provide his teammates with a legit chance to trounce the Ice Lions. He said the team never gave up.

"Penn State was firing shots from every part of the rink – we had just 22 or 23 shots on goal, but our shots counted," Lowe said.

The assist on the game-winning tally was attributed to SJSU left-wing Sean Scarbrough who was named to the All-Region 2nd-team.

Scarbrough ended the season with 14 assists and a team-leading 30 goals, which earned the top-line winger the award for Most Valuable Player at this year's SJSU hockey banquet, with Lowe as the runner-up.

The 19-year old also holds down the top spot on the Spartan roster in points-per-game with six and short-handed tallies with four, though he said his success could simply be a case of "right time – right place."

"I feel I got extremely lucky this year and it would be hard to have another season like that," Scarbrough said.

Glasow has witnessed much of Scarbrough's on-ice career over the years and said the freshman forward has been a dominant player at every level, in every age group - contrary to the rookie's ode to Lady Luck.

"I don't think he's even reached his full potential yet and I'm looking for even better things next year," Glasow said.

Lowe agreed with even greater expectations.

"I'm sure he'll provide four more years of excitement for our team," Lowe said.
The Spartans are set to open the 2005-06 season against the University of Southern California on October 7 at the Logitech Ice Center in San Jose.